"OutKast, pronounced outcast. Adjective meaning homeless, or unaccepted in society. But let's look deeper than that. Are you an OutKast? If you understand and feel the basic principles and fundamental truths contained within this music, you probably are."

—"True Dat (Interlude)"

Getting their start in 1990, hip-hop duo OutKast ended up becoming one of the most vital and dynamic music groups of the 2000's. Benjamin and Patton met while attending Tri-Cities High School, a Visual and Performing Arts School. Benjamin's parents were divorced and he was living with his father. Meanwhile, Patton had to move with his four brothers and six sisters from Savannah to Atlanta. Benjamin and Patton eventually teamed up and were pursued by Organized Noize, a group of local producers who would later make hits for TLC. The duo initially wanted to be called "2 Shades Deep" or "The Misfits", but because those names were already taken they later decided to use "OutKast" based on finding "outcast" as synonym for "misfit" in a dictionary. OutKast, Organized Noize, and schoolmates Goodie Mob formed the nucleus of the Dungeon Family organization.

OutKast signed to LaFace Records in 1992, becoming the label's first hip hop act and making their first appearance on the remix of labelmate TLC's "What About Your Friends". During the holiday season of 1993, they released their first single, "Player's Ball". The song's funky style, much of it accomplished with live instrumentation, was a hit with audiences. "Player's Ball" hit number-one on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart. Afterward they would continue to bang out hit album after hit album. The group's original musical style was a mixture of Dirty South and G-Funk. Since then, however, funk, soul, electronic music, spoken word poetry, jazz, and blues elements have been added to the group's musical palette.

Discography:

Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (1994)

ATLiens (1996)

Aquemini (1998)

Stankonia (2000)

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003)

Idlewild (2006)

OutKast as a group is currently on hiatus, with both members pursuing solo careers. The two have said that they'll record new material together once they've both put out solo albums. Big Boi's album, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty, was released in 2010 after repeated delays to rave reviews; in 2012 he released his sophomore album, Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors, which was also positively reviewed. Andre 3000 has appeared ever so often to chime in a verse, such as on Drake's "The Real Her" and Frank Ocean's "Pink Matter," but as for his solo album...

The duo is confirmed to reunite for Coachella 2014 and an ensuing tour. No confirmation on if they'll make another album together.

Everybody move to the back of the tropes:

Album Filler: "West Savannah" on Aquemini, while not a bad song at all, this record was a leftover from the first album and was included for the sake of being included.

It was probably a service to fans who had asked about it since a small clip was used in the beginning of the Benz Or A Beamer video in 1995. It would never have fit on ATLiens but fits well on Aquemini.

Wailin' on ATLiens just seems to be there, as does the remix of Elevators (Me & You) at the end.

The intros and interludes on all albums that have them are filler in their broadest form. They are entertaining for the most part, but didn't really need to be there. ATLiens only has one intro and is considered their most mature and cohesive album.

Black Sheep Hit: Hey Ya! is their biggest hit and yet completely unique in their discography. The song is a sort of bubblegum pop/funk pastiche in an odd time signature that only features André 3000, who mostly sings rather than raps. The song got so much radio airplay that many radio listeners don't realise Outkast is a rap group.

Determinator: In "Da Art of Storytellin Part 2" the world is coming to an end, but they're still trying to make music.

Distinct Double Album: The two discs of Speakerboxxx/The Love Below basically function as solo albums for Big Boi and Andre 3000 - "Roses", "Ghetto Musick", and "Knowing" are the only songs on the whole album that has vocals from both of them. The two discs are also distinct in style, particularly because Andre 3000 spends the majority of The Love Below singing instead of rapping.

Operating Under the (K)Crooked American System Too long (same song the page quote comes from) - seriously though, this is 90s hip-hop. Acronyms abound.

Hey, It's That Guy!: Cee Lo Green is a guest star on several of their early songs, years before Gnarls Barkley and his solo career made him a household name. Back then, he was a member of Goodie Mob, who shared the same producers as Outkast (Organized Noize) and were good friends. He also appeared alongside them on the Dungeon Family album Even In Darkness.

Last Note Nightmare: "Funky Ride", one of their most smooth and relaxing songs, ends with a woman's orgasm over some rather creepy sounds.

Lyrical Dissonance: The iconically upbeat "Hey Ya!" is a song about breaking up, and goes in depth into the question of whether or not love can last, or is even worth the effort.

Never Trust a Title: Player's Ball (Original Version) is actually an edited version to remove references to Christmas. The song originally referred to the Player's Ball being a Christmas party, but these were removed to give the song a year-round appeal. The unedited version with the Christmas references appears on A La Face Family Christmas.

Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik had a sound reminiscent of East Coast boom bap mixed with a hefty dose of P-Funk and Southern soul, along with both glorifying and deconstructing the pimping lifestyle from a lyrical standpoint.

ATLiens focused on moody, atmospheric arrangements and far more personal and involved lyrics that heavily deconstructed a lot of established hip-hop tropes, the latter eventually becoming one of their trademarks.

Aquemini was essentially a neo soul album with more hip-hop than normal.

Stankonia was more or less one giant P-Funk and Prince tribute and a perfect example of Genre Roulette.

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was two solo albums in one, with Big Boi's side being straightforward Atlanta-style hip-hop and Andre 3000's being a mixture of Prince worship and retro-styled pop.

Idlewild took their blues and gospel elements and put them up front and center.

Non-Appearing Title: "Rosa Parks" plays with this trope, being named after the woman who refused to "move to the back of the bus."

Non-Indicative First Episode: 'Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik'', while generally considered to be on par with the rest of their work, had more urban themes than their later releases, and didn't feature the eclectic mix of genres they would later become known for.

Obvious Beta: The booklet for "Big Boi And Dre Presents Outkast" indicates that AT Liens is on the compilation - it isn't, likely as it was removed to fit more new tracks on.

The lyrics aren't actually random if you pay closer attention to them. The song itself is actually about being able to follow up after you start something, the song is just filled with crazy metaphors. A lyrical break down of the song is available here

Uncommon Time: "Hey Ya!" skips two beats once every six measures, making the meter of the song [4+4+4+2+4+4]/4, or 22/4.

Who's on First?: "Good Day, Good Sir" features a routine between an unnamed gentleman and one named Fantastically Well, with one line from a lady named Fine, the silent presence of a third gentleman named Spectacular, and a reference to another character named Exactly.

Andre famously subverts this, rarely putting out an album and doing less than 5 features a year, or occasionally no features whatsoever. The features he does do tend to be with larger-name artists however, making tracks with Jay-Z (the remix to "30 Something"), Drake ("The Real Her"), Rick Ross ("Sixteen"), and Lil Wayne (the Interlude in 'Tha Carter IV').

Andre doesn't just do rap features, ranging from equally-experimental pop music (Gwen Stefani, Frank Ocean), to typical pop music (Chris Brown), to the downright bizarre (Gorillaz and the remix to "Sleazy" by Kesha).

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